Without A Voice
by Wiccan Blade
Summary: When a girl moves to Domino City after an accident that took her voice, will she ever be able to duel again. Tell Me if I should continue. No Flames Please. Complete
1. Default Chapter

Without A Voice

She had just moved to Domino City after being in a tragic accident in which her voice box was badly damaged, to the point of being unable to speak. Once she had bought a place to live, she registered for school and awaited the next day. She took out her dueling deck and looked at each card wishing that she could still speak. She knew she couldn't duel if she couldn't tell her cards or her opponent what her move was. After putting her dueling deck away and getting ready for bed, she went to sleep.

When she arrived at the school the next day, she went to pick up her schedule which took a good fifteen minutes before the secretary understood enough to retrieve her schedule for her. When she found her first class, the teacher told the class that they had a new student named Kristy. The teacher looked to her kindly and said,

"Now Kristy, please tell the class a little bit about yourself."

Kristy looked at the ground with a sad expression and the teacher asked,

            "Kristy?"

Kristy dug in her school bag and brought out a notebook writing a note to the teacher about the accident and that she couldn't speak. She also showed him the doctor's papers of the diagnosis and the scar on her neck from where they tried to save her voice box. Kristy also wrote how old she was, where she was from, and that she had just moved to Domino City. The teacher looked to the note, then to Kristy, and then to the class.

            "Ahem, please take a seat behind Tristan." The teacher said before looking at the note and telling the class of her age, where she came from, and that she had just moved there.

One of the bullies whispered sarcastically,

            "What, is the new student too stupid to speak up for herself?"

Kristy looked down at her desk in shame, forcing herself not to cry. Shortly after the class they all headed to their next classes and Kristy took her time because she didn't want to have the same result for every class. Unfortunately, the next three classes were the same way and finally when lunch rolled around, she sat at a table in the way back corner by herself. 

At Yugi's table, Yugi and his friends asked about Kristy, and since Tristan was the only one who had her in a class so far, he explained what happened in his first class. 

"So, she didn't speak at all?" Yugi asked.

"No, she just showed the teacher a bunch of papers and he told her to sit down behind me." Tristan answered.

Suddenly, a racket brought their attention to Kristy's table where the same bully that had commented to her in her first period class was teasing her. Before Tristan or Jou could move to help her she pushed him aside forcefully and ran out of the lunch room in tears. Jou was angry in seeing what had happened and he confronted the bully about it.

"What was that all about Butch?!" Jou asked angrily.

"I was just having a little fun." Butch said coolly.

"By teasing someone you don't even know?!" Jou replied coldly before he and his friends left to find Kristy and try to comfort her.

They found Kristy on the roof of the school looking out on the city longingly and looking at one of her cards. 

"Hey Kristy" Tristan said gently.

Kristy was startled by the group and she dropped the card she was looking at. The wind blew the card over to the group and Yugi picked it up. When Yugi looked at the card he realized that it was the Summoned Skull. Kristy nearly ran over to get the card back and was surprised that Yugi gave the card back to her.

'Usually, a kid would take the card and keep it; I don't understand why this kid returned it to me so quickly.' Kristy thought confused.

When she looked at Yugi he asked,

            "Is he your favorite card?"

Kristy just nodded her head and held the card close to her. Tristan then introduced everyone to her and they walked back with her into the school and into their separate classes. 

'Tristan's friends seem nice, but I don't know if I should befriend them. The last friends I had used me and then didn't want to be my friends anymore after the accident.' Kristy thought as the class came to a close.

            "Hey Kristy, do you want to come with me and my friends to my house?" Yugi asked as he met Kristy at her locker.

Kristy shook her head no and waved goodbye as she headed out the door and walked home.

/Yami? / Yugi asked through their link.

//What is it Aibou? // 

/I'm worried about Kristy. /

//Why's that, she seems like a nice girl. //

/I know, but the whole time we were talking to her, she never said a word. /

//She's probably just shy. //

/I don't think that's it. I think there's something more to it. /

//Maybe we can figure it out tomorrow at school. //

/Okay/

//Aibou, you worry too much//

/And you don't? I was just hoping to make a new friend, but I don't think that she's too eager to be friends with anyone/

//I'm sure we'll figure it out tomorrow//

/You're right/ 

And with that, Yugi shut off the mental link and started his homework with his group of friends. 

As the night drew on it started getting late and Yugi had to say goodbye to his friends as they headed to their own homes. For her first week of school, Kristy had to use gestures and what she knew of sign language (which wasn't much) to communicate to her teachers and fellow students. It didn't take long for Kristy to realize that her life had become a game of charades in which she had to use her hands to communicate to anyone. Kristy turned Yugi down a second time when he asked her again if she'd like to come over to his house. Kristy was in no hurry to make friends since she was afraid that Yugi would do the same thing her other friends did. When she got home that night, she sat in her room and once again took out her cards. She picked up her favorite card and thought,

            'I wish I was strong enough to fend off the bullies that tease me.'

Suddenly she heard,

            'But you are strong.'

Startled, she looked around the room but no one was there. When she looked back at the card in her hand it was glowing. Kristy was so surprised, that she dropped the card and ran to the other side of the room. To her astonishment, she looked up to see the Summoned Skull standing before her and advancing towards her.

'How did he know what I was thinking? There's no way he heard me verbally because I can't speak.' Kristy thought in a panic.

'I can't explain it, but we monsters can communicate with you telepathically.' The Summoned Skull answered her. 'When you lost your voice we had to find another way to communicate with you.' He finished.

'So you can hear my thoughts?' Kristy thought slowly.

'Yes; now you should go to the game shop and get some cards to strengthen your deck; since you can communicate with us again you'll probably be expected to duel. Who knows, you might find a friend there.' The Summoned Skull teased.

'I doubt it.' Kristy thought as she took his advice and got her shoes on to head to the game shop. The Summoned Skull returned to his card and she put it in her deck and carried it with her.

Kristy walked slowly down the street as she thought of what cards might strengthen her deck. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the game shop and she walked in hesitantly. Kristy went to the back of the store so that no one would see her. When she looked at the cards on the shelf, she decided on a booster pack and walked up to the counter where she saw someone that surprised her. There, standing behind the counter was a man that looked very much like Yugi but he was taller and he looked more confident. Kristy put the pack on the counter and he rang up the total; that'll be $3.00. Kristy handed him the money and opened up the pack. As she looked through the cards, she started jumping up and down causing Yami to sweat drop. Yami then saw which card she was so happy to get; it was the Celtic Guardian. She turned around and used sign language to thank Yami and walked out the door.

//Yugi? //

/Yes Yami. /

//I think I found out why she never speaks//

/Really?! /

//Yeah, she's either mute, or that scar on her neck shows that her voice box was too injured by something to be saved. //

/O…Kay/

//Keep an eye on her, and try to become friends with her. //

/Yes master. /

//Ha ha very funny. But seriously//

/Okay, will do/

And with that their short conversation ended. Kristy walked down the street happy about getting good cards when someone pushed her down and she dropped the new cards. She bent down quickly to pick them up and realized that her second favorite was missing; she looked around frantically trying to find it when a voice caught her attention.

            "Looking for this?" A boy said with a snobby tone.

Kristy went to grab it when he pulled it away from her.

            "Not so fast. You have to duel me to get it back." The kid said teasing her.

Kristy didn't hesitate to agree since there was no way in hell she was going to let this sleaze-ball get away with her Celtic Guardian. 

An arena arose in the middle of the street and she took one of the platforms. Her opponent stood across from her looking smug and made the first move with the Hitotsu-Me Giant. Kristy played her Summoned Skull and said mentally,

'Summoned Skull, attack Hitotsu-Me Giant!'

Suddenly, the opponent's monster blew up and he stood there gaping. 

            "How did you do that? You didn't even say anything!"

Kristy just smiled and had her Summoned Skull destroy each monster he put on the field since they were all weak. Kristy won the duel and grabbed her Celtic Guardian back thinking to her new card

'I'm so sorry you had to go through with that.'

'Hey, you got me back and that's all that matters.' He replied to her as she smiled and skipped happily on home. 

That is, until a hand lashed out and dragged her into an ally. When she was spun around by her attacker, she saw at first who she thought was Ryou, but when she looked into the person's eyes, she noticed that they were cold and cruel looking. She suddenly started to fear for her life.

"If it's true what they say about you being unable to speak, then that means you won't be able to scream when I trap you in the Shadow Realm." The man said while opening a portal.

The last thing Kristy heard was maniacal laughter before everything went black. Kristy came to seeing the same cold, cruel eyes looking at her. She bolted up and backed away from him.

"If you think for one minute that you can escape me, then you are sadly mistaken." The man said with a cold tone and a smirk.

'Who is this moron?' Kristy thought

"The name's Bakura." The man replied.

'How did he know what I was thinking?!' Kristy thought surprised that he responded to her thought.

"We're in the Shadow Realm, anything's possible." Bakura replied. "Now hold still so that I can beat you to a pulp." He continued.

Just as he went to strike her and she cringed expecting a mighty blow, he was yanked back and thrown by someone or something. Kristy looked up to see the Dark Magician standing before her and who she thought to be Yugi at first, behind him. Kristy didn't know what to think, it wasn't every day that she was thrown into another dimension and nearly beaten up before being saved by a duel monster and a Yugi look alike. The man walked over to her and asked,

"Are you okay?"

When Kristy nodded her head he offered his hand so he could lead her out of the Shadow Realm.

Kristy hesitated thinking, (Note: '…' Kristy. "…" Yami.)

            'I don't even know this guy and he expects me to trust him?!'

            "You can trust me I won't hurt you, my name's Yami." He said to her.

            'You can hear my thoughts too? How'd you know I was here?' Kristy thought to him.

"I sensed a disturbance in the Shadow Realm and came to investigate when I saw that Bakura was about to hit you."

'You look a lot like Yugi and Bakura looks a lot like Ryou; are you brothers or something?'

"No, Yugi and I share a body and so do Ryou and Bakura."

'Oh. I think I'm ready to go now, I'm feeling kinda tired. Thank you for helping me Dark Magician and Yami.' Kristy thought taking Yami's hand.

'When we exit this place will you still be able to hear my thoughts?'

"I'm afraid not, I can only hear the thoughts of Yugi when I'm not in the Shadow Realm."

And with that final thought, they exited the Shadow Realm and appeared in the game shop. Kristy hugged Yami in thanks before exiting the shop and heading home. This time though, she got there safely. Bakura however, was not happy about losing his new abuse victim and swore revenge. 

"Ryou gets strong enough to defy me every day; I need someone else to take my anger out on." Bakura said to himself. 

Little did Bakura know, Ryou was also getting good at tapping into his thoughts without him knowing; using a back door so to speak. Ryou planned on letting Yami and Yugi in on his dark's plans after school the next day. 

            The next day at school, Yugi greeted Ryou with his usual cheerful tone.

            "Hey Ryou!"

"Yugi, I need to speak to you and Yami after school today, it's very important." Ryou said to Yugi with a serious tone that said 'this is a major priority.'

"Oh, ok." Yugi said before heading to his first period class.

/Yami? Did you hear that? /

//Yes Yugi, I heard. //

/Good, we'll speak with Ryou after school then. /

With that Yugi went through the school day and waited anxiously for the final bell to ring.

When the end of the day finally came, Yugi rushed to his locker, grabbed his books, and met Ryou outside to go to the game shop together. 


	2. A Plan of Action

Chapter 2: A Plan of Action

/…/ Yugi to Yami

//…// Yami to Yugi

'…' Thoughts

*~At Yugi's place~* 

Ryou, Yugi, and Yami were upstairs in Yugi's room discussing the very important matter that Ryou was talking about earlier.

"So, what's this important matter that you were so eager to talk about?" Yami asked.

"It has to do with my Yami; he plans on making Kristy his new abuse victim." Ryou explained.

"Does Bakura know that you know his plan?" Yugi asked.

"No, I found a kind of back door into his mind that I can use if I want to find out about any plans he may have." Ryou answered.

"Are you absolutely positive that Bakura doesn't know that you heard him?" Yami asked.

"That I know of, my Yami doesn't even know I found a back door into his mind." Ryou answered.

"Then we need to keep an eye on Kristy at all times, I think I can find an amulet that has a tracking device so that we know where she is at all times." Yami said.

"Yugi, I am going to give the amulet to you to give to Kristy." Yami continued.

"What will I tell her?" Yugi asked.

"You remember when you said you didn't think that she was in a hurry to make friends, tell her that it is a token of friendship." Yami answered.

"I think Tristan would be more trustworthy with this mission since he and Kristy seem to get along real well and she seems to trust him more." Yugi said to Yami.

"Call Tristan and tell him to come over and to head to your room. Explain the plan to him and then give him the amulet." Ryou ordered. 

"We've got to protect her from my Yami." He continued before he got up and left for his house.

The meeting ended and Yugi called Tristan. Tristan entered the shop and went to Yugi's room where he received the amulet and an explanation of what it was for. 

"Wait a minute, you think she'll trust me best?!" Tristan questioned.

"Well, Yeah. You were the first person that she ever really got to know and probably the only person that she will trust. However, you mustn't tell her the true purpose of the amulet." Yugi answered.

"Okay." Tristan replied slowly taking the amulet from Yami.

"How do you know this will work?" Tristan questioned before putting the amulet in his pocket.

"We don't, we'll just have to hope for the best." Yugi answered.

Tristan put the amulet in his pocket and headed out the door.

//You think this will work? //

/It has to work. We've got to protect her/

//I hope it does Aibou, I hope it does// 

The next day rolled around to find Tristan attempting to give Kristy the amulet.

            "Kristy?" Tristan asked.

Kristy turned around to face him and nodded her head.

"I was wondering if you'd accept this amulet from me and my friends as a token of friendship." Tristan said holding out a golden amulet with engravings outlined in silver around the edges.

Kristy was stunned, so stunned that she started having an internal conflict with herself.

'This is so sudden; I still don't know whether to trust him and his friends. Then again, they have been kind to me while my other friends were snobby in asking for friendship and didn't really give me a choice.'

'Kristy, trust him, I know some of his friends' duel monsters and they have nothing but good things to say about their owners.' The Summoned Skull interrupted her internal conflict and explained how trustworthy Tristan and his friends really were.

'But…' Kristy said hesitantly.

'No buts Kristy, I know in my heart you can trust them.' The Summoned Skull said in a stern, but calm tone.

'Okay' Kristy thought hesitantly.

"Kristy, earth to Kristy." Tristan said calmly while waving his hand in front of her face.

Kristy looked up and nodded her head before putting her hand out to accept the amulet.

            "Great Kristy, this means a lot to us." Tristan said happily pulling her into a hug.

When Tristan pulled away he saw a blushing Kristy and he started blushing himself from embarrassment.

            "Oops, sorry" He said laughing nervously before heading off to class.

Kristy laughed to herself, and she too headed off to class after putting the amulet around her neck. 

In her last period Math class, Kristy noticed a man sitting in the seat next to her who wasn't there yesterday and then she looked back at Ryou and noticed that it wasn't Ryou who was glaring back at her. She turned around quickly and gulped which didn't go unnoticed by the man next to her. During class, the teacher asked for the answer to number thirty five and Kristy raised her hand along with some of the other students.

            "Kristy, please come to the board and write down the answer you got." The teacher said

Kristy made her way to the board and wrote down the number 1,246.

            "That's correct. You may go back to your seat." The teacher said happily.

Kristy walked down to her seat and noticed the guy next to her looking at her with a confused expression. After class, Bakura took the form to look like Ryou but it was him talking to her; Kristy noticed this and froze. The guy that was sitting next to her during class went over to ask her a few questions and when Bakura saw this, he left angrily. In a way, Kristy was relieved but then she saw the cold expression on the man's face and started to get worried again.

"I'm Seto Kaiba, and I know the teacher doesn't normally call students to the board unless they're not paying attention. Yet you were paying attention, so why did he call you to the board to answer the question?" He asked coldly.

Kristy didn't know what to do and when Tristan came in to meet her, he asked suspiciously,

            "What are you doing talking to Kristy, Kaiba?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I was asking why the teacher called her to the board to answer a question." Kaiba answered in the same cold tone.

"Well, since you want to know, she can't talk so in order for her to answer when she volunteers, she has to go to the board and write the answer." Tristan answered for Kristy.

"Now if you'll excuse us, I'm going to walk Kristy home." Tristan said coldly and gently grabbed Kristy's wrist to lead her out of the room.

Kaiba just watched them leave and smirked. Once out of the class room, Kristy wriggled her wrist free of Tristan's grasp and turned him around so he could see her looking at him questioningly.

"Kaiba is not the nicest guy, he's nothing but a cold hearted bastard and I suggest you stay away from him." Tristan said.

Kristy didn't understand, he didn't seem all that cold hearted to her.

            "C'mon, let's walk you home." Tristan interrupted her thoughts.

Kristy pulled her hand away before Tristan could grab it and shook her head at him. She'd been on her own for so long that she didn't like the idea of having an escort since it made her feel weak. Before Tristan could ask any questions she ran down the street and headed home. Bakura was watching the scene from the shadows and smiled evilly at how foolish Kristy's decision was.

'Maybe I should trap her in one of the cards instead of trying to kill her; that would be far more entertaining.' Bakura thought evilly. 

Bakura then sent out his White Magical Hat to capture Kristy and bring her to him. Bakura gave his monster a cloth that held a drug to knock her out and told him to cover her mouth and nose with it until she passed out, he then told him to bring the girl to Ryou's.

As Kristy sat in her room with the window open, she started to feel uncomfortable and walked over to shut the window. With the window closed, she still felt uneasy so she picked up her Dark Magician for the first time and tried communicating with him mentally.

'Dark Magician, do you sense that something doesn't feel right?'

'No, why do you ask.'

'Because I'm feeling extremely uneasy, and I feel like something bad is going to happen.'

'Just make sure you have us with you and you'll always have someone to help you should something happen.'

'Thanks.'

'I'm here to help.'

No sooner did their conversation end than the lights went out and she felt an arm around her waist along with a cloth over her mouth and nose. She struggled to escape, but she was beginning to feel dizzy. The last thought that she got out was,

            'Someone help me!'

Jou was at Yugi's when his flame swordsman card started to glow.

            "Hey Yug, I don't think it's normal for our cards to glow without them being summoned." 

            "My Dark Magician is acting up too."

            //Yugi? //

            /Yes Yami/

            //I sense a disturbance//

            /Is that why our cards are acting funny/

//It's sort of a warning system. If a close friend is in danger, they glow to warn their owner of the trouble//

/But all our friends are safe; unless… /

//Oh no, Kristy! //

Meanwhile, at Tristan's

            Tristan was sitting in his room looking at his cards and trying to figure out which boosters to add to his deck when his Cyber Commander started glowing and he came out of his card.

            "What the...?"

            "Tristan, one of your friends is in danger."

            "How do you know? And how did you come out of your card when I didn't summon you?"

"The Flame Swordsman and the Dark Magician have already gotten the message from Summoned Skull."

"What?! But those cards are Jou and Yugi's favorites. And the Summoned Skull is Kristy's favorite! Oh Shit!!"

"You must go to Yugi's quickly"

"I'm on my way! And thanks"

"We're not just ink on paper; we're here to look out for our masters and our friends."

Tristan got to Yugi's and they knew very well who was behind Kristy's disappearance. 

"We've got to find Bakura and stop him before he does something terrible." Yugi said before Yami took over. 

Tristan explained what his Cyber Commander said and Yami got out the tracking device locater from his pocket.

"This isn't possible, the only way I could get a reading like this is if she were in the Shadow Realm but I don't sense any disturbances coming from there." Yami said.

Meanwhile, at Ryou's

Kristy was just coming to and she had a major headache. She sat up slowly and saw that she was in a room she didn't recognize. She went to the door to try and open it only to find out that it was locked.

            'Figures, I should just move to another country, I'm nothing but trouble here.' Kristy thought.

Just then Bakura entered the room looking truly evil.


	3. Rescue Mission

Chapter 3: Rescue Mission

Kristy started to back up as he approached her.

            "No matter how far you back away from me I'll get to you eventually." He said with a sly grin.

Kristy was terrified, the last time she had an encounter with this guy, she ended up in another dimension. Bakura continued to advance on her until she was against the wall. 

"Hm, I think I'll put you in Jou's favorite card, he's such a moron he'll never notice the difference on the card." Bakura said as he brought out his Millennium Ring and concentrated on Jou's Flame Swordsman.

Before Kristy could try to find an escape she was engulfed in blue light and lost consciousness. When she woke up she was groggy and she was lying on a bed of some sort. 

            'What did that psycho maniac do to me?' She thought. 

            "He placed you with me." She heard a voice say.

She turned to the direction where the voice came from and saw a monster with a blue and orange outfit and extremely large head gear.

"I'm the Flame Swordsman." He introduced himself. "Jou's Flame Swordsman to be precise." He continued.

'That means Tristan has to be near by, they're really close friends.' Kristy thought happily.

"That may be, but unless I show them some sign that you're here, they won't notice."

'Are you going to give them a sign?' Kristy thought.

"I'm afraid that if I do, you'll just be transported to someone else's card."

'Oh, well, okay.' Kristy thought sadly.

"It'll be okay; the friends that my master has will never let you down."

'I never really knew if I should trust them because of my past, and now I might be here forever' Kristy thought, upset at herself.

"Hey, cheer up, you'll find a way home."

'I'm not so sure anymore. I'm nothing but trouble; I'm not worthy enough to have true friends.' 

"You're friends with Tristan aren't you?"

'I'm not so sure. I haven't been able to fully trust him or his friends since I got here.'

"Believe me, you are worthy enough to have true friends, but you have to be willing to trust people and open up before you can get them. If you're too afraid to open up to people, you'll never make any progress."

"How touching." Bakura found a way into Jou's card.

'Oh no, someone help me. I'm in Jou's card. Can't anyone hear me?'

Yami's Dark Magician suddenly appeared in front of the group and looked over at Jou who was holding his card loosely in his had. The Dark Magician snatched the card from Jou.

            "Hey, give that back!" Joe yelled.

The Dark Magician showed the card to Yami and pointed to two shadows that weren't there before. With a nod, Yami used his puzzle and brought the Flame Swordsman out along with Bakura and Kristy who both landed hard on the ground. Tristan ran over as soon as he saw Kristy land and helped her to stand before glaring at Bakura.

"Thank you Dark Magician for pointing that out to me." Yami said before the Dark Magician returned to his card.

The Flame Swordsman also returned to his card and Bakura was met by three angry glares.

            "What didn't expect me to do that? Well I wasn't able to finish my revenge and I would like to carry it out now, come here Kristy!" Bakura said sarcastically with a hint of anger in his voice.

Kristy wasn't able to stop the strong force that lifted her into the air and started pulling her towards Bakura and she began to panic as she got closer to him. Yami put a stop to that by using his Millennium Puzzle to force Bakura into the Shadow Realm. Kristy dropped to the floor and stayed down as she started crying because of all the trouble she had caused.

            "Kristy, what's wrong?" Tristan asked.

His only answer was her getting up and running out the door in tears. He looked back to his friends who nodded and he went after her. He found her in the park sitting on a bench crying into her hands. He walked up and sat down, before putting a hand on her shoulder. Kristy looked up and leaned into his chest crying as it started to rain. Tristan wrapped his arms around her and held her in a comforting hug. As her sobs subsided, Tristan realized that she had cried herself to sleep. He picked her up and carried her to his place where he wrapped her in a blanket and laid her on his bed before heading to the kitchen to make something for them to eat. 

Kristy woke up four hours later and started to worry as she was once again in a room she didn't recognize, only, when she went to the door, it wasn't locked. Kristy stepped out of the room to the smell of food cooking. Kristy was still uneasy until she saw Tristan walk into the kitchen.

"Oh, you're awake; are you hungry?" Tristan asked.

In response to his question, her stomach started growling. He just chuckled and set two plates of food down on the table. Kristy sat down when he signaled for her to have a seat and they started eating. Kristy's eyes grew wide when she tasted it, the food was delicious.

            "You like it?" Tristan asked.

Kristy nodded her head and continued to eat.

            'I told you, you could trust them.'

            'Oh, be quiet! And thanks, for showing me how to trust again.'

            'Hey, I'm your favorite card, would I ever steer you wrong?'

            'Do you really want me to answer that?'

            'No, that's quite alright. Do I hear your sarcasm coming back?'

            'I give up, do you?'

            'I'll take that as a yes.'

            "Hello, Kristy, do you want some more?" Tristan's voice cut in.

Kristy snapped out of it and shook her head.

            "Are you okay?" Tristan asked worried.

She nodded and gave him a smile.

            "You worry me sometimes." Tristan said.

Kristy signaled for him to get her a pad and pencil and she wrote down why she was hard to get through to sometimes. She wrote,

_I was talking to the Summoned Skull. When I lost m y voice, I had to find other ways to communicate with my cards should I happen to be in a duel. Shortly after I came here, I was looking at my cards and my Summoned Skull started glowing, before I knew it he was standing in front of me and I learned then and there that I could communicate with my monsters telepathically. I was really not sure about whether I wanted to make friends because of what happened in my old town and the Summoned Skull helped me to realize that you and your friends are the best choice when it comes to making friendships. I know all this sounds crazy, but I'm just explaining how it happened. You might want to show this little note to Yugi and the others as well except for Ryou, his yami is way too dangerous and he doesn't know about the telepathic link between my monsters and me. _

_Thanks for everything,_

_Kristy_

She turned the note over to him before heading home.

            "Wait, I'll walk you home." Tristan offered.

Kristy nodded her agreement, and the two left his house to head over to Kristy's. On the way to her house, they ran into bully trouble and Tristan stood in front of her protectively until a bully hit him in the gut causing him to collapse to his knees, before kicking him in the ribs. Kristy kneeled down to Tristan and looked up at the bullies glaring.

"Come on baby, he's a wimp, how about going out with a real man." One of the bullies said grabbing her roughly by the arm.

"Maybe because she doesn't see a real man around here." A voice called out.

Kristy turned around and her mouth nearly dropped to the ground. There standing behind her was the Cyber Commander. Tristan managed to look up and see his favorite card behind him and Kristy and turned to the bullies with an evil grin on his face.

"Now you're gonna get it." He said with an evil smirk.

The bullies just laughed and started ushering Kristy away when she got fed up with always being the damsel in distress. She decided to stick up for herself and kicked two of them in the groin while she punched the other two in the back. Unfortunately, the two she punched weren't that easily grounded and she was slapped hard and thrown to the ground. The Summoned Skull had had enough and his card started to glow before he appeared in front of Kristy blocking a punch that was aimed at her stomach. 

"What the hell?!" one of the bullies asked in surprise.

"My master is a kind and caring person with a good heart and I suggest you leave her alone before I dismantle your body parts one by one." The Summoned Skull said with anger evident in his voice.

The bullies got up and ran away as fast as they could.

'Now I know why so many people don't fight back; it just causes more trouble.' Kristy thought.

'You had the guts to stand up for yourself and help Tristan; I think that shows more bravery than cowardice.' The Summoned Skull said, proud of her.

'I still have to get home and I want Tristan to come with me so I can make sure he doesn't have any damaged ribs.' Kristy said to him before he returned to his card.

'You may have a boyfriend yet.' The Skull teased her.

'Oh, shut up; that's not true.' Kristy retaliated.

'Isn't it?' the Skull questioned her.

'I've got to check on Tristan now; I'm ending the link here.' Kristy said, changing the subject and going over to Tristan's side.

Kristy helped Tristan to stand and supported him the rest of the way to her house.

            "Kristy, that bully hit you pretty hard, are you okay."

Kristy nodded at him as she unlocked her door and stepped inside and headed with him upstairs to her room. She then went and got the first aid kit from the bathroom and returned with bandages. She looked at Tristan sitting on her bed looking at the ground. She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up at her and see her smiling at him warmly. Kristy signaled for him to take off his shirt which he did, reluctantly to reveal a dark bruise on his left side. Kristy grimaced at the site and touched her hands to his side to feel for any broken ribs. When she touched his side, Tristan winced; she looked up at him and stopped touching his side.

"It's not broken, just fractured." Tristan said as if it was nothing.

Kristy looked at him worriedly and then looked to the ground. Tristan put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up to look at him. He was smiling and as their eyes locked on each other they started drawing closer to each other until they shared a quick kiss and pulled away both touching their lips and blushing. 

'Halleluiah!' Kristy heard the Summoned Skull shout.

'Would you shut up?! So we shared a small kiss whoop de doo.' Kristy said a little embarrassed.

'Suuuuur' Summoned Skull said doubtfully. 'You chose the perfect boyfriend, one who will protect you and one who will be able to talk to you about problems.' He continued.

'I'll never hear the end of this will I?' Kristy asked flatly.

'Nope!' the Summoned Skull said gleefully.

Tristan noticed the look on Kristy's face as she finished talking with the Summoned Skull.

            "Kristy, are you okay?" Tristan asked.

Kristy shook her head thinking, 

            'I wish I could communicate with him telepathically like I can with my cards.'

Suddenly Kristy heard,

            'Oh no, I shouldn't have kissed her, now she won't even look at me.'

Kristy looked up at Tristan with a shocked expression.


	4. Secrets Revealed

Chapter 4: Secrets Revealed

Tristan noticed Kristy look at him with shock on her face and asked,

            "What?"

Kristy tried communicating with him telepathically by asking,

            'Tristan, can you hear me?'

Tristan jumped when he heard Kristy's voice in his mind.

            'I'll take that as a yes.'

            'Kristy? What's going on?'

'I made a wish that I could communicate with you telepathically like I can with my cards, and it came true.'

'Okaaay'

'I'm not crazy, because I know you can hear me and the shock on your face proves it.'

'I never said you were crazy, but this is kind of a shock.'

'I know, and I'm sorry it startled you. I just wonder what the others will say.'

'Yugi shouldn't have a problem with it, and neither should the others.'

'Good, then when should we tell them?'

'Tomorrow, at school.'

'Okay, it's settled then, tomorrow. You should head home, it's getting late.'

'Actually, I'd like to stay here if that's alright. I really don't wanna go home to an empty house.'

'You'll have to go there anyways to get some clothes and things.'

'I can stay, just like that?!'

'Yeah, I tend to get lonely too you know. I'll even walk with you to your house and back.'

'Okay, let's go!'

So Kristy and Tristan left to his house to get some of his things. The two returned to Kristy's an hour later and got ready for bed. That night, Tristan stayed in the guest room next to Kristy's room and they got up the next morning and headed off to school together. 

            "Hey guys!" Yugi called as they approached the gate.

            "Hey Yugi." Tristan said, and then continued, "We have to tell you something."

'Actually, you'll be telling and I'll be standing here like a mime.' Kristy thought to him sarcastically.

Tristan looked at her with a fake glare then turned back to see a confused Yugi.

            "I'll tell you when the others get here." Tristan said.

            "Oh, okay." Yugi replied.

The others arrived and Tristan told them the whole story; about what happened with the bullies, their cards coming to their aide, as well as the Summoned Skull's threat to the bullies, and what happened the other night that allowed them to communicate with each other telepathically. Yami listened intently in his soul room and contacted Yugi.

            //Yugi? //

            /Yes Yami/

//I think you were right all along when you said that she'd trust Tristan the best; and I think that they've become a couple; even if they don't realize it just yet. //

Unfortunately for Kristy and Tristan, Ryou was also their and his yami had found a way back from the Shadow Realm once again. 

'So, Kristy and Tristan can communicate with each other telepathically. I wonder how far the communication line between them can reach before they can't hear each other any more.' Bakura thought before he started laughing evilly.

After school, the friends went their separate ways to their homes and Kristy asked her Harpie's Brother card to keep an eye on her and watch her back. With his agreement, he came out of his card and took flight. Kristy continued on her way home when she saw Bakura leaning on a wall to her right. She started to get worried at the thought of having to pass him in order to get to her house. When she got towards him, he said,

"You know, I hate it when Yami throws me into the Shadow Realm, especially when I'm in the middle of trying to kill someone."

'If you weren't such an evil psychopath, maybe you'd stay in the real world for longer periods of time.' Kristy thought, feeling that he wouldn't be able to hear her. Unfortunately, he could hear her thoughts whether in the Shadow Realm or not.

"I happen to like being evil thank you very much. Now you will come with me." Bakura said, reaching out and grabbing her upper arm.

Kristy tried to get out of his grasp, but she soon realized that he was a lot stronger than he looked. 

            'Tristan, Bakura's back, and he's not happy!' She thought in a panic.

Jou was talking to Tristan, when he noticed his friends eyes glaze over and a look of anger cross his features.

            "Yo Tristan, you okay buddy?" Jou asked.

            "Bakura's pestering Kristy again, I have to go." Tristan said angrily.

            "Let's go get the others to help." Jou suggested.

"It might be too late by then; Kristy thinks he's going to kill her!" Tristan exclaimed before he ran off towards her place.

Jou ran towards the game shop to get Yami and Yugi to help. Meanwhile, while Tristan was heading towards Kristy's place, Bakura had already transported Kristy and him to a cliff. Bakura finally let go of Kristy's arm and grabbed her shirt collar before holding her over the side of the cliff.

'Oh my god, he's going to drop me!' Kristy thought just before he let go of her shirt and watched as she fell.

Tristan, Jou, Yugi, and Yami just got there after he dropped her. Tristan ran over to Bakura and grabbed him by his shirt collar shouting,

            "You Bastard! You dropped the only girl I ever really had feelings for!" 

Then Tristan punched Bakura in the stomach and threw him to the ground before he started kicking him in the ribs. Jou and Yami had to hold him back so that he wouldn't end up beating him to death. As Kristy was falling she thought frantically,

'Harpie's Brother, catch me please!'

The ground started getting closer to her and she closed her eyes preparing for the impact when she felt herself fall into someone's arms. She opened her eyes to find Harpie's Brother looking at her and she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug to say thank you. When they got back up to the cliff, everyone was huddled around Tristan who was crying and slamming his fist into the ground, cursing himself for failing to get to Kristy on time.

'Tristan, I'm okay, I called out Harpie's Brother before any of this happened. I'm still very much alive; look towards the cliff's edge.' Kristy thought in a gentle tone towards Tristan.

Tristan's head shot up and he shouted,

"Kristy!" before looking to the cliff's edge where he saw Kristy standing with outstretched arms.

Tristan was on his feet in a matter of seconds running towards her, ending with embracing each other. Tristan was so happy to see her; he put his hands on her waist, lifted her up, and spun her around in the air.

            "Yep, they're definitely in love." Yami stated sarcastically. 

Yugi nudged him in the side with his elbow saying,

            "Yami!" in a scolding tone.

            "What?! It's true." Yami said innocently.

            "What'd ya mean they're in love?" Jou asked.

            "Just look at how they act around each other." Yami answered simply.

Jou looked to see Tristan and Kristy in the middle of a deep kiss.

"Maybe I should've waited to see how they act around each other." Jou said while quickly turning away from the scene.

Yugi and Yami started to laugh at Jou's reaction. Kristy realized that Harpie's Brother was watching the scene and she told him he could go back into his card after apologizing for forgetting he was there and thanking him for rescuing her.

            'It's not like I was the only one watching.' Harpie's Brother said, after returning to his card.

At that comment both Tristan and Kristy turned to see Yami, Yugi, and Jou grinning at them. Both Tristan and Kristy blushed and laughed nervously.

            "I'm starved, let's go eat." Tristan said, changing the subject.

            "Suuure, let's go." Jou said slyly earning a slap upside the head from Tristan.

Kristy just laughed at the scene before her as they turned and headed into town. 

On their way through the woods, Tristan and Kristy decided that they should let their secret out and tell everyone that they had become a couple. The group was okay with the idea and Yami was beaming with a smile that said 'I told you so.'

'Kristy, I feel strange when I'm around you sometimes, and I'm not talking strange as in butterflies in the stomach, it's something else.' Tristan said to her.

'You too huh?' Kristy asked flatly.

Tristan was a bit taken back but then smiled warmly at her. Once they joined hands, a bright white light surrounded them causing Yugi, Jou, and Yami to turn around.

            "Yami what's happening?!" Yugi shouted in a panic.

            "I don't know Aibou." Yami shouted back while blocking his eyes from the wind that had come up.

When the light faded, they saw that Tristan and Kristy were in formal attire. Tristan wore a black tuxedo while Kristy wore a sleeveless white shimmering gown. They both had silver necklaces in which each had half of a gold pendant. They each wore gold bracelets and they each had gold arm bands on as well, but Tristan's couldn't be seen through his tuxedo. Kristy and Tristan floated to the ground and seemed to have passed out.

"I don't think we'll be eating any time soon." Yami said. "We have to figure out what just happened first." He continued before Jou could protest.

As they watched the scene Kristy and Tristan's normal attire was back and they slowly started to regain consciousness.

            "Ugh, what happened?" Kristy asked, and got gasps from everyone.

            "I feel like I've been hit by a semi." Tristan said, holding his head.

Once the disorientation wore off, Yugi said excitedly,

            "Kristy, you just spoke?!"

Kristy looked at him with a mix of shock and confusion before Tristan asked,

            "Is this true?"

Kristy looked at him and then at the group and started stuttering,

            "Well I…uhh… I…I-It must be a-a miracle."

            "You did speak!" Tristan said ecstatically and pulled her into a hug.

Kristy pulled away from the hug with a bright smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

'I guess this means I can't communicate with my cards and Tristan telepathically anymore.' Kristy thought sadly.

'Who says?' She heard Tristan and the Summoned Skull say at the same time.

            "Guys, I can talk, and communicate telepathically with Tristan and my cards!" She said excitedly.

            "Alright! Group hug!" Jou said, pulling everyone into a hug.

            "Thank you all so much for being my friends." Kristy said with tears in her eyes.

"You don't need to thank us, we're just glad you could finally trust us enough to accept our friendship." Yugi said cheerfully.

Kristy looked at the ground and said sadly,

"I'm so sorry I didn't trust you before; I thought everyone was like my friends back home. I thought that if I made new friends they'd turn their backs on me if I got hurt, like what happened in my old town."

"If they turned their backs on you after you got hurt, they weren't true friends." Yugi said sympathetically.

"I realized that when I thought back to the time they asked me to be their friend and before I could say anything they just said that they were glad to be my friend. In other words, I didn't really have a choice." Kristy explained.

"Kristy we didn't mean to get you to talk about such a depressing subject; how about we go eat and then go to the game shop to play some games." Tristan said while helping Kristy to her feet and slipping an arm around her waist.

Kristy nodded and they headed out of the forest.

            "By the way, what was with the light show?" Yami asked.

"To tell you the truth, I have no clue. I don't know what's with the accessory jewelry either." Kristy answered.

As if in an attempt to answer her question, hers and Tristan's necklaces started glowing right before Bakura came through the trees to attack them. Then their bracelets and armbands started glowing and Bakura was thrown into the nearest portal to the Shadow Realm.

            "Well, I guess that answers the question about what the jewelry is for." Yugi stated.

"Look, we're near the town, we better hurry and get some grub before something else happens." Tristan said as he started running towards the town with Kristy, Yami, Jou, and Yugi close behind. 

They got to the diner and ate a big meal before they went to the game shop where a duel was going on between Kristy and Tristan.

            "No, my Cyber Commander!" Tristan whined. "You're cards are giving you advice!" He accused.

            "I resent that remark; don't be such a sore loser hun." Kristy shot back causing Tristan to blush.

            "I can't believe it, that's the fifth time you beat me!" Tristan said angrily.

"Don't be such a child, women are always going to be able to beat men, it's common nature." Kristy said in a teasing manner.

"I think I liked it better when you couldn't speak." Tristan mumbled.

"I heard that Tristan! You take that back!" Kristy yelled at him.

"Gotta catch me first." Tristan said as he got up and started running.

"I'll catch you yet, and then you'll get it!" Kristy said in a teasing manner before chasing after him.

Yugi, Jou, and Yami stood there laughing and Yami stated,

            "Definitely a perfect couple; or maybe I should say a cute couple."

The three of them continued to laugh as Tristan tried desperately to get away from the corner that he had backed into in an attempt to escape Kristy's wrath.

WB Chan: There, this chapter's done. (Thump. Turns around to see where the sound came from.)

Bakura: I've finally tracked you down. I've got some advice for your story.

WB Chan: No, you cannot kill Kristy and Tristan.

Bakura: How'd you know what I was going to ask?!

WB Chan: I'm the authoress, I know everything.

Bakura: Then you know I'm going to kill you.

WB Chan: (pulls out frying pan that was used on Kaiba in "Be Careful What You Wish For") Not if I knock you out first.

Bakura: You wouldn't dare hurt me with my own frying pan would you?

WB Chan: Thinking, thinking, (Hits Bakura in the head knocking him out.) Yes; now on to writing the next chapter. ^__^ (looks over at the unconscious Bakura and thinks, 'He's not going to be too happy when he wakes up.')


	5. Bakura's Change of Plans

Chapter 5: Bakura's Change of Plans

Tristan managed to escape from the corner he was backed into and Kristy ended up chasing him out the door and into the forest. Unfortunately, Kristy lost track of Tristan and had to slow to a walk. Little did she know, Bakura was hiding within the shadows of the forest waiting for the perfect chance to strike. Kristy walked by him with no knowledge of doing so. Bakura then followed her until they were far enough away so that no one would hear her scream when he grabbed her. He waited until she walked out to a cliff that had a sharp drop-off to the sea before sneaking up behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist before covering her mouth and vanishing with her. Tristan had stopped running a long time ago and was starting to worry when Kristy hadn't found him; even though he was saved a walloping because she couldn't catch him. Bakura had brought Kristy to an abandoned warehouse and as soon as they appeared, she pushed him away.

"What the hell are you doing you deranged psychopath?!" Kristy yelled at him.

"Keeping you as far away from Tristan as possible; and being as how you're separated, there's no way that you can use the power in your arm and wristbands to blow me into the Shadow Realm because when you're separated, your power isn't even strong enough to throw me into a wall." Bakura explained smirking. 

"If you think for one minute that you're going to kill me because Tristan and I are separated, you've seriously lost it!" Kristy yelled at him.

"Who said anything about killing you? I've suddenly had a change of plans, and have decided that I think I'll keep you for myself." Bakura stated.

"I thought you were a nutcase before but now I know for a fact that you are most definitely a psychopath." Kristy stated while backing away from him and looking for a way out.

"There is no way out and personally, I like my companions to be unable to talk back to me." Bakura stated calmly while activating his millennium ring.

A blast of light flowed out of his millennium ring and right at Kristy who felt like she was choking as the light surrounded her. The next thing she knew, she woke up on a platform that was surrounded by a force-field. She tried to ask aloud what had happened but found that she couldn't speak and that she was as speechless as she was when she had first arrived. She started crying at the loss of her voice once again; she was suddenly back to expressing her emotions through sign language and facial expressions. Bakura entered the room again with an evil smirk on his face.

"Well, now that I fixed that fact that you could speak, it'll be nice and quiet since you can no longer talk back to me." Bakura then laughed as he walked away. 

'Summoned Skull?'

'What is it master?'

'Did you hear what Bakura said?'

'No, I didn't; what did he say.'

'Well, he stole my voice from me, he's preventing me from going back to Tristan, he's planning on keeping me here with him… need I go further?'

'How'd he get your voice from you? I thought it was returned for good. Also, have you tried contacting Tristan telepathically?'

'No, I haven't contacted Tristan telepathically; and he robbed me of my voice by using his millennium ring.'

'Do you want me to come out and try to free you?'

'No, Bakura would hear you because he's in the next isle.'

'Try contacting Tristan mentally; maybe Yami could restore your voice again.'

'I'll try contacting Tristan; but I doubt Yami will be able to restore my voice.'

'Tristan, can you hear me?'

When Kristy got no answer, she moved to plan B. 

'Summoned Skull, he's too far away for me to contact him. I need you to go to one of my friend's monsters and tell them the situation.'

'You don't even know where you are.'

'I want you to find that out too.'

'Okay, see you soon.'

'Thanks'

Bakura then came in with something for Kristy to eat and set it inside the force-field. He was lucky he made sure he was quick because soon after he set it down; it came flying back at him.

            "You have to eat something!" He yelled at her.

Kristy shook her head vigorously and turned her back to him; listening as he stormed off angrily. The Skull reached the Dark Magician and told him the situation; then the Dark Magician passed it on to Yami. Meanwhile at the warehouse, Bakura was talking with Kristy about what his plans were.

"You needn't worry, Tristan will be here soon, only, he won't be allowed near you. After all, you did tell the Summoned Skull to alert him and his friends."

Kristy looked at him in shock and then cursed herself for forgetting that Bakura knew when she spoke mentally with any of her monsters or Tristan. Yami and the others were on their way to the warehouse and got close when Bakura snuck up behind them and grabbed Tristan before vanishing back into the warehouse. As soon as Tristan was let go, he saw Kristy and tried running to her. Bakura grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"One, if you try to touch her, you'll only get zapped by the force-field and two, I don't want you anywhere near her." Bakura stated.

"Let Kristy go, before I beat you to a pulp." Tristan ordered angrily.

"You're in no position to be giving orders Tristan!" Bakura stated grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back with such force; he dislocated Tristan's shoulder causing him to cry out in pain.

Kristy banged on the force-field trying to escape but that only caused a jolt to go through her body.

            'Kristy, I'm sorry, I failed to rescue you.' Tristan thought.

'That's not true, you came to try and save me. If you were to fail you wouldn't have even tried. Unfortunately, Bakura snatched my voice from me with his millennium ring.' Kristy explained.

'Kristy, of course I tried to save you, I am in love with you, and I would never let this bastard have you without a fight. We'll get him back for stealing your voice away from you.' Tristan thought.

"You really shouldn't have told her that." Bakura stated before dropping Tristan to the floor and kicking him a few times in the ribs.

Kristy didn't care what pain came with pounding on the force-field, and she tried desperately to get out of it and run to Tristan's side. It was at that point that Yami and the others found the warehouse and walked in, only to find Tristan writhing on the floor in pain and Kristy pounding on a force-field trying desperately to get to him.

"Hold it right there Bakura! Let Kristy go!" Yami shouted while Jou went to kick Bakura in the head to help Tristan. 

Unfortunately, Bakura caught Jou's leg and flipped him to the floor. Finally, Yami used his millennium puzzle to destroy the force-field around Kristy and to throw Bakura into a wall to knock him unconscious. Kristy immediately ran to Tristan when she was released from the force-field.

'Tristan, Tristan are you okay?! Please tell me you're okay!' Kristy thought to him in a panic.

'I'm fine Kristy, I've probably got some bruised ribs and I need to lock my shoulder back into place, but besides that I should be fine.' Tristan stated calmly but there was some evident pain in his thoughts.

Tristan slowly got to his knees and looked up to see tears streaming down Kristy's face. Kristy threw her arms around his neck and thought,

            'I'm so glad he didn't kill you.'

'Kristy, it takes more than a few strikes to the ribs and a dislocated shoulder to keep me down.' Tristan said reassuringly.

Without warning, Kristy knocked Tristan's shoulder back into place and looked to Yami and Jou before thanking them in sign language.

"Kristy, I thought you had your voice back." Yami stated confused.

A tear slipped down Kristy's cheek before Tristan stated with a pained tone,

"Bakura took her voice from her using his millennium ring."

 "He what?!" Jou shouted.

"Maybe my millennium puzzle can bring it back." Yami suggested.

'Or maybe I'm supposed to be mute for the rest of my life.' Kristy thought angrily.

"Don't even think that way Kristy!" Tristan scolded her.

"What did she say?" Jou asked.

"She thinks that it may be possible that she's supposed to remain mute for the rest of her life." Tristan answered.

"That can't be true; Kristy, maybe we can get your voice back, there's always a chance." Yami stated comfortingly. "Come on, it's worth a shot." He finished.

Kristy nodded her head before Yami activated his puzzle and the light engulfed her. Kristy felt as if her airways were opened up before the light faded and released her. Before they could ask if it worked, Bakura came to and said,

            "Idiots, I made it so that not even magic can bring her voice back." He then, laughed evilly.

"Bakura, you're wrong." Kristy stated, causing Bakura to stop laughing and to look at her with wide eyes.

"That's impossible; the millennium ring's magic is strong!" Bakura protested.

"Maybe, but the magic of the millennium puzzle is stronger." Yami said confidently. 

"Can we leave now? I want to go home." Kristy said.

"Yeah, let's go." Tristan said, as he finally got to his feet and took Kristy's hand.

The white light that surrounded the couple the first time appeared again and Tristan's ribs were healed by it. Kristy and Tristan decided that they would either remain close to each other or close to their friends for protection purposes. Bakura was thrown into the wall again by Yami before they left; and headed back to the game shop. 

Bakura: What is it with you abusing me?!

WB Chan: It's simple, you're evil.

Bakura: I want my frying pan back so I can hit you with it!!

WB Chan: You're hardly in a position to be bossing around the all-powerful authoress.

Bakura: (Walks away grumbling only to come back with a tennis racket.)

WB Chan: You left to get a tennis racket?

Bakura: (grins evilly) your tennis racket to be exact.

WB Chan: I suggest you put that down before I severely hurt you.

Seto: I suggest you listen to her; Krista hits hard. I should know she had her hit me enough times in Be Careful What You Wish For.

WB Chan: You were being naughty.

Seto: You're the authoress, you could fix that problem!

WB Chan: (Grins evilly at Seto) what makes you think I want to fix it?

Seto: (Runs like a bat outta hell after looking at the frying pan that magically appeared in her hand.)

Bakura: (Thinks) 'I forgot about how hard her characters hit. She had Krista smack me upside the head; and it was rather painful.'

WB Chan: (turns her grin on Bakura.)

Bakura: (drops the racket and makes a break for it.)

WB Chan: I love terrorizing my muses. Now on to the next chapter!!


	6. Bakura's Brilliant New Plan

Chapter: 6 Bakura's Brilliant New Plan

When they all got back to the game shop, Tristan and Kristy walked into the living room and turned on the TV to watch the news when Yugi ran in with Yami hot on his tail.

            "Give me the sugar now Aibou!" He yelled.

"Yami, we all know what you're like on a sugar high and I'm not willing to deal with a hyperactive yami tonight." Yugi said while jumping over the coffee table.

"Yugi, toss it over here!" Kristy yelled receiving the bag from Yugi.

"Yeah, let's play keep away from Yami!" Tristan said standing up and taking the bag from Kristy.

"Give me the sugar this minute Tristan!" Yami yelled, chasing Tristan up the stairs.

"I'll take it from here!" Jou said as he walked out of the bathroom taking the sugar from Tristan and running in the opposite direction.

This game went on until they were all too tired to run around and escape from Yami. Yugi did manage to hide the sugar though, before Yami entered the kitchen. 

"I would've been able to get the sugar from you if you hadn't gotten help from our friends." Yami said still breathing heavy from all the running that he did to try and get his sugar fix.

Meanwhile, Bakura was in his hideout trying to come up with a new plan to catch Kristy but all that earned him was a headache.

            'I will get her back in my possession; they can count on that!' He thought angrily. 

Bakura decided to sneak into the game shop that night and take Kristy right out from under their noses. His plan failed however when he ran straight into Yami who was still up and wide awake.

"What are you doing here Bakura?" Yami asked with venom in his voice.

"I was going to take Kristy back you idiot of a pharaoh." Bakura snapped his response.

"I've had it with your attempts to take Kristy and I'm going to let you know how it feels when you can't speak worth a shit." Yami said angrily as he used his millennium puzzle's magic to take Bakura's voice (1). 

Bakura tried cursing at the pharaoh only to find that no sound came out and he heard Yami give a low chuckle.

"Unfortunately Bakura, I also had to take Ryou's voice so that you wouldn't be able to use his vocals to speak." Yami stated.

Bakura stormed off in anger thinking,

            'Ryou's going to kill me when he finds out.'

            /Why would I want to kill you Bakura? / Ryou questioned mentally.

            //Never mind runt! // Bakura snapped.

            /I think it is my business if you're afraid I'm going to kill you. / Ryou shot back.

//Fine, the stupid pharaoh took both our voices because I attempted to kidnap Kristy again. // Bakura answered angrily.

/You what!! Bakura you stupid tomb robber! You just can't leave her alone can you! How are we going to duel if we can't speak! I can't even talk to my friends thanks to you! I should lock the door to keep you outside tonight, but that wouldn't do any good cause you'd pick the lock! Now excuse me, I'm going to see if I can speak mentally with my cards! / And with that a mental block was slammed up until the next time Ryou would want to yell at his yami.

Bakura had a major headache before Ryou had started yelling at him and now it was ten times worse.

'Stupid pharaoh.' Bakura thought angrily. 'I'll get him for this; maybe instead of chasing Kristy I'll start chasing Yugi.' He finished his thought.

Meanwhile, Ryou was trying to communicate telepathically with his cards so that he'd have someone besides Bakura to talk to.

            'Corazon, can you hear me?' Ryou thought to his Change of Heart.

            'What is it master?' she asked.

            'I hate Bakura.' Ryou answered.

            'You don't mean that. He never hits you does he?' Corazon asked.

'No he never hits me, but he made it so that Yami took our voices because he wouldn't leave Kristy alone; now the only people I can speak with are you, my other cards, and Bakura.' Ryou answered.

'I'm sure you two will learn to get along; it will take some time, but I'm sure you will be able to reach an understanding.' Corazon reassured him.

'I hope you're right.' Ryou thought with a sigh.

As Ryou thought the mental wall came down and Bakura spoke to him shyly. 

            //Um, Ryou? //

            /What is it Mr. Antisociopath?!/

            //Um, can I talk to you? //

/Well, lets see; thanks to you, you're the only one I can talk to aren't you?! And what's with the shy act all of a sudden?! Did we switch rolls?!/

//You'd be amazed at how powerful light is against darkness when given the right incentive.//

/You could say the same about the strength of darkness against light. Do you know how Yami knew where to find Kristy when you attacked her?! I told Yami about your plan to make her your new abuse victim! /

//WHAT!! How did a pathetic vessel like you find out about my plan?!//

/That's for me to know, and you to find out. /

//I have ways of finding out what I want to know; you know that! //

As Bakura said this, he grabbed Ryou by his shirt collar and got quite a shock when Ryou looked at him defiantly and showed no signs of fear towards him.

            //Since when do you have the guts to defy me you worthless vessel?!//

/Since I realized that you wouldn't kill me even if you wanted to because you know full well that if I die, you die. / 

Bakura growled and dropped Ryou to the floor none too gently before storming off. 

'Hmm, some brilliant plan that was; I never expected it to backfire the way it did.' Bakura thought angrily to himself. 'The plan was to grab the girl and I would've succeeded if it hadn't been for that damn pharaoh!' He continued his mental rant.

~*Meanwhile, back at the game shop*~

Yugi went downstairs to get a glass of water when he saw Yami standing near the door.

            /Yami, what are you doing down here so late? / He asked.

//I just took Bakura and Ryou's voices so that Bakura would learn from experience what it felt like for Kristy to have no way to speak to others.//

            /Why? / Yugi questioned.

//Because he came here to kidnap Kristy.// Yami answered simply. //By the way aibou, what are you doing down here so late? // Yami asked.

/I came to get a drink/ Yugi answered.

Yami started chuckling at a thought that popped into mind and at Yugi's confused expression he stated

//I was just thinking about the arguments that could be going on between Bakura and Ryou; I'm sure that Bakura's gotten an earful by now because he'd either have to tell Ryou what he had done or Ryou may have found out on his own.//

/I don't know Yami; I don't see Ryou as the type to have the courage to yell at Bakura. / Yugi stated.

//If he had the guts to go into Bakura's mind to find out his plans, I'm sure he'd be brave enough to stand up to him. // Yami reassured.

/Okay, I think I'll go back to bed now. / Yugi said completely forgetting about getting a drink.

//Yugi, weren't you going to get a drink? // Yami asked.

/I'm not thirsty anymore. / Yugi said as he reached the top of the stairs.

Yami watched as Yugi went back to his room and went to bed before he himself turned in for the night.

*~Back with Bakura and Ryou~*

            /Bakura, dinner's ready! / Ryou called out mentally.

            //I'm not hungry! // Bakura called back before thinking 'stupid hikari.'

The next thing Bakura knew, he was being dragged downstairs by a very upset hikari who had a hold of the back of his shirt collar.

/You are eating and that's final! / Ryou yelled mentally. /Any questions?! / Ryou was pleased when he saw his other half shake his head 'no.'

***************************************************************************************

[What's with making me get my voice taken?!] Bakura  

[You were being rude and it wasn't my idea; one of my reviewers came up with that brilliant idea.] WB Chan

[What's so brilliant about some lousy idea to make me miserable?!]Bakura

[I thought it was very clever, or do you want me to make your voice disappearing a permanent thing?]WB Chan

[You wouldn't dare; besides, if you make it permanent Ryou won't be able to talk either!] Bakura

[I could just make it so that he's the only one that gets his voice back.] WB Chan

[WHAT?!! Don't you think that's going a little too far?] Bakura

            [No, should I?] WB Chan

            [YES!]Bakura

(1)  I got a request to have this happen from one of my reviewers thanks for the idea crystal crittenden.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Voice Still Escapes Me

Ryou woke up the next day with enthusiasm at the thought of possibly being able to speak again. He tried to say something only to find that he still couldn't be heard. He ran down to Bakura's basement bedroom and woke him by grabbing his collar and shaking him while shouting mentally,

/Why the hell is it that I still can't speak/

Bakura, being rudely awakened stuttered mentally

/I...I don't know. /

/Well, you better find out soon or so help me, you'll be in no condition to speak ever again/ Ryou shouted before storming out of Bakura's room.

Bakura was for the first time terrified of his hikari because for a split second he could've sworn he saw a glimpse of what he was like in the past; when he made Ryou fear him with just one glare.

/Looks like I've taught the weakling well. / Bakura mused to himself.

/Bakura! Get your ass down here! Breakfast is ready/ Ryou yelled mentally.

/Gee, can the rest of me come too// Bakura thought sarcastically, getting a metal spatula to the head as he sat down to eat.

/Ow! What the hell was that for// He yelled.

/Quit being sarcastic and just eat you sad excuse of a yami/ Ryou growled.

/What did you call me// Bakura yelled, standing up from his chair.

Suddenly Ryou seemed to grow a few feet taller as he yelled/I said eat/

Bakura sat down quickly and said timidly//Yes sir. / he was starting to realize just how scary his hikari was when angered.

After their meal was over and Ryou was doing dishes, Bakura was seriously thinking about going to beg the pharaoh to give his and Ryou's voices back for his own, as well as Ryou's safety. Because knowing the two of them, they'd end up killing each other by the time they got their voices back. Bakura then thought again that if he were to beg the pharaoh, he'd never be able to live it down.

/Bakura/ Ryou yelled through their link causing Bakura to jump a good ten feet from being startled.

/What is it this time whelp/ He yelled back angrily.

/What did you call me/ Ryou yelled back.

/You heard me hikari, I called you a whelp// Bakura yelled; you could see sparks flying between the two as they stared each other down.

Well, they were staring each other down that is, until Ryou brought out a frying pan from behind his back and knocked his dark half unconscious.

'That'll teach you not to call me a whelp!' He thought angrily as he walked up the stairs and to his room. He knew for a fact that Bakura would have a major headache when he woke up, but he didn't care at the moment.

Ryou then got a really devilish idea and decided to have some fun with the permanent markers around the house as well as the paints that were in the den. He walked over to Bakura's unconscious form with the marker and drew a mustache under his nose that looked like one of the French mustaches in paintings and cartoons, before he used the paints to draw on his face so that his dark half looked like a clown.

'There, now when he wants to try and kill me for knocking him out, he'll have to stop me from laughing first.' Ryou thought with a smirk as he returned to his room.

It was an hour later when Bakura awoke, he got up and prepared to put Ryou through the same treatment, but it didn't work too well as Ryou started cracking up. He didn't think it would be so funny, but Bakura looking like a pissed off clown was too comical not to laugh. Bakura was confused; he didn't understand why Ryou was laughing so much; until he looked in a mirror. Bakura screamed, before he ran into the bathroom to wash his face clean. Ryou closed his door with a big grin on his face.

After Bakura was cleaned up, he went to Ryou's room seething. He had a fairly good plan for payback in mind, until a bucket of water came flying at him. He screamed and barely managed to dodge it, growling.

/What the hell was that for/

Ryou turned and looked at him innocently before asking/What? I was just relieving some stress./

/Don't you dare try to feign innocents with me! You did that on purpose/ He yelled.

/Maybe I did...and maybe I didn't.../ Ryou stated with a grin, trying not to laugh as his yami was visibly starting to become unglued.

Realizing that he didn't know how to take out his anger in a good way, Bakura left Ryou's room and slammed the door as he went to walk around the park.

Meanwhile, at the game shop

Yugi wasn't feeling well; it started with dizziness and disorientation; before escalating into a high fever and chills. At first they thought it was the flu; but that was ruled out when none of the medicines for the flu worked. They finally decided to get a doctor involved and when he gave the diagnosis, they were heartbroken. For the next two days his condition only worsened. Yami was always by his side; but it was obvious that he was grief stricken. He was supposed to watch out for Yugi, and then he gets an illness that was beyond Yami's powers to heal...Or was it? Soon, Yami got an idea and called all of his friends to witness what he hoped would be a miracle. He called out Slifer to pose a question to him.

"Slifer, I wish for you to cure Yugi of the illness inflicted on him, to save his life!" He called.

"Pharaoh, you do realize that by summoning me to grant you this deed...You must repay me somehow?" Slifer asked.

"I do, unfortunately, I can think of nothing to offer." Yami answered sadly.

"You could offer to send your spirit to the afterlife." Slifer suggested.

"But my hikari needs me!" Yami protested.

"That may be so, but unless I have payment, I can do nothing." He stated.

"But..." Yami tried, only to see Slifer shake his head.

It was then that Kristy stepped in; "Then take my voice!" She offered.

"The pharaoh summoned me, so he must pay." Slifer stated.

"But Yugi is a friend to all of us; the pharaoh may have summoned you; but all of us wish for the same miracle!" She pointed out.

After a bit of thought, Slifer nodded his head in approval. The young mortal was wise to find a loophole.

"But Kristy, you've gone through so much to speak again." Yami protested.

"I've experienced the gift of speech for at least a little while; that's enough for me." She reassured, though Yami still didn't like the idea.

"Besides, Yugi's life is more important." She stated confidently; it would seem her mind was made up; once that was done, there was no changing it.

She nodded to Slifer to show she was ready before he nodded and started the process of taking her voice. She felt like her airways were constricting at first; before collapsing to the floor, once again without a voice. Tristan helped her up and hugged her, as Slifer returned to the shadow realm.

"That was a very brave thing you did." He stated with a smile.

/It was something that had to be done./ She stated back telepathically.

Their attention was diverted when they heard Yugi give off a slight groan as he started to come to.

"How do you feel Aibou?" Yami asked.

"Like I just came back from the dead." He groaned out as he put a hand to his head.

Kristy walked over and hugged him with tears in her eyes.

"Kristy? What's wrong?" He asked confused.

"Yugi...She gave her voice to save your life. You were on the brink of death." Yami explained softly.

Yugi looked at Kristy in shock.

"Kristy...I...I'm sorry." He stated sadly, looking at the covers.

"Yugi, your life was more important to her than her voice." Tristan stated, translating what Kristy was saying telepathically to him.

"B...But, she worked so hard to get it back and keep it." Yugi protested.

"Yes, but it's better that she was at least able to experience the gift, than to not have experienced it at all." Tristan translated.

"Well...I guess you're right..." Yugi stated unsurely, before hugging Kristy and apologizing again.

Kristy just shook her head and hugged him back; thankful that he was so pure of heart.

Back with Bakura and Ryou

Bakura walked back into the house feeling quite hostile, even after his walk. He got ready to yell at Ryou mentally when he started muttering curses under his breath. Evidently the pharaoh thought he suffered enough; as he found that he could speak again. One thing was for certain; he wasn't going to be going after Kristy anymore; he never wanted to be punished like that again. It was then that Ryou walked down the stairs with a big grin on his face. It seemed evident that he also could speak again.

"You seem to be quite happy." He commented.

"Yugi called, I let the machine get it since I didn't have a voice to talk with; or so I thought. Yugi told me to pick up the phone and that Yami had given our voices back." He explained.

"Did he explain any particular reason for returning our voices?" Bakura asked suspiciously.

"Just that Yugi got really sick and he had nothing to offer Slifer when he called him out; so Kristy gave her voice, so that Slifer could heal Yugi." He explained quickly.

Ryou then headed out to Yugi's, with Bakura in tow. Once they got there, the most Bakura did was glare at the pharaoh. Yami just smirked at him and continued to hang out with his friends.

"Well Bakura, I hope you glaring at me means that you learned your lesson." He commented.

Bakura growled and mumbled for him to shut up under his breath. From that point on; there was a party to celebrate Yugi's recovery; and a few apologies that a certain tomb robber was forced to give, as his light was holding tightly onto his ear. Once the apologies were done; he was released and went to soothe his wounded ego and his sore ear.

A couple of months later, a blushing Tristan asked Kristy to marry him. She too blushed; before she accepted and within a year's time, they were declared husband and wife. Things went smoothly from then on; but things weren't always going to be good, eventually, something would come up in which they'd have to return things to normal.

**The End**


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